Socket wrench for truck wheels



Dec. 15, 1942.

w. H. POWER SOCKET WRENCH FOR TRUbK WHEELS Filed Sept. 17, 1941 Patented Dec. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,305,274 SOCKET WRENCH FOR TRUCK WHEELS William H. Power, Lake Charles, La. Application September 17, 1941, Serial No. 411,221 I I (01. 81-121) and with the nuts M, to either hold said nuts 1 Claim.

The object of the present invention is to provide a novel type of wrench for use in conjunction with dual truck wheels. The manner of use of the wrench and its advantages will be more fully set forth in the detailed description based upon the accompanying drawing, wherein: I

Fig. l is a front view of the outermost wheel with the wrench applied to one of the wheel retaining lugs;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view upon line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the device in use, in conjunction with the rear or dual wheels of a truck, and,

Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2, butshowing the wrench reversed for use with a single wheel, as.

in the case of the front wheel of the truck.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

It is common practice to employ dual wheels as the rear wheels of a truck, and single wheels as the front wheels. In the drawing, 5 designates a portion of the rear axle and 6 the brake drum. Threaded studs '1 project outwardly from the face of the brake drum for the reception of the discs 8 and 9 which constitute the body portions of the inner and outer dual wheels, respectively. Each of the lugs for retaining the inner wheels in place comprises a sleeve 10 internally threaded at II for engagement with the threads of one of the studs 1. gular heads ii for the reception of a wrench and they have beveled inner ends 13 which engage in correspondingly shaped openings of the disc 8 of the inner wheel, so that when they are screwed up, the inner wheel is bound firmly against the brake drum 6.

The disc 9 of the outer wheel is providedwith openings M of a size to fit over the externally threaded surfaces of the sleeves Ill. Nuts I 4 threaded upon the external threads of the sleeves l0 engage the disc of the outer wheel and bind it forcibly against the disc of the inner wheel. The disc 8 of the inner wheel is bowed or dished inwardly as indicated at 15, while the disc of the outer wheel is bowed or dished outwardly as indicated at I6, and the bowing of these discs serves the double purpose of imparting greater strength to the wheels and of separating them at their outer or rim portions, far enough to provide the proper spacing between the two tires.

The discs of the wheels are provided with openings I! which may correspond in number to the lug structures and it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a novel type of wrench which will coact with these openings,

These sleeves have ani against turning, under some circumstances, or to aid in loosening said nuts, under other circumstances.

The wrench of the present invention comprises a closed socket portion [8 shaped to fit snugly over the angular outer face of the nut [4, a shank N! that is connected by a bent portion 20 with the socket l8, and an inturned end 2| adapted to enter any one of the openings I1. When used upon a dual wheel, the parts occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 2 at which time the socket 18 holds the nut l4 against turning during the manipulation of sleeve l0.

It will be observed that the bent portion 20 of the wrench conforms to the bow of the disc, and thus the wrench is adapted to occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 2 or the position illustrated in Fig. 3. It will be observed that in the latter position, the bent portion of the wrench conforms to the bowed portion of the disc of the single wheel, but that instead of the end 2| projecting inwardly into one of the openings I! to be held against turning, such lug now projects outwardly or away from the wheel and serves as a portion against which a blow may be delivered for the purpose of loosening the nut I l, which functions as a primary holding nut for the single disc of the front wheel.

The engagement of the bent portion of the wrench snugly over the bowed surface of the disc, as in both Figs. 2 and 3, aids in holding this wrench in place, and adapts it to fit the parts as described, despite the fact that at one time of use it must accommodate itself to an outwardly bowed disc, while at another time of use it must accommodate itself to an inwardly bowed disc. The reason that it is desirable to hold nut M in Fig. 2 while sleeve ii] is turned, is that after long periods of use these two parts become frozen together and tend to turn together. By holding M with the wrench of this invention while imparting a partial forward turn "to sleeve ill with a wrench applied to end I2,

the nut M and sleeve [0 are brokenapart and so loosened that the nut M can then be removed with an ordinary wrench without trouble.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, a

but that it includes within its purview whatever changes fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of th appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

A wrench for manipulating the retaining lugs male members, one part of which engages one of said discs and the other part of which engages the other of said discs and wherein said discs are provided with openings outwardly of the retaining members, said wrench consisting of a socket, shaped to fit one of the parts of the two part wheel retaining means,a shank by which the socket is carried, said shank being connected to said socket by a bent portion and an end at the extremity of the shank bent substantially at right angles to the shank in the direction of the axis of the socket and in the direction opposite to the bend constituting said bent portion, whereby the shank is caused to lie at least partially beyond the plane of the socket in a direction away from the inturned end, the curvature of the bent portion of the wrench conforming upon one side to the bowed portion of the disc of one wheel and conforming upon its other side to the bowed portion of the disc of the other wheel and the length of said shank being such with respect to the position of the disc openings that the bent endof the shank may be engaged in one of said openings to hold the engaged part of the wheel retaining means against turning while an additional wrench is being applied to the other part of the two part retaining means, and said wrench being adapted, when turned to a position to direct its bent end away from a correspondingly shaped wheel disc, to'turn the wheel retaining means with which it is engaged.

WILLIAM H. POWER. 

